Kaigan
by Naikoru Hiatto
Summary: [On Hiatus] The Higurashi clan of Spiritual Shinobi. This tale follows Higurashi Kagome and her adventures through time as she fights to protect not only all of humanity, but more importantly her precious kitsune - Shippō - from being taken by the Akatsuki.


**Summary:** Inu-Yasha + Naruto

The Higurashi clan of Spiritual Shinobi. A noble clan of nomadic ninjas who have since the beginning of time, dedicated themselves to protecting humanity from yōkai. This tale follows Higurashi Kagome and her adventures through time as she fights to protect not only all of humanity, but more importantly her adopted kitsune brother Shippou from being taken by the Akatsuki.

**A|N:** Your Rude Awakening has passed this story onto me for revision and to be continued. That said, I have completely revised Kaigan with an interesting new plot. Well, hang on. That might not be the right word. Perhaps instead I should say that I've found a way to mesh the two universes in a different way. I'm not going to say anything, for I feel that doing so may give it away. That said, I ask kindly that you please re-read.

It is my hope that you like it, and so without further ado… Kaigan, chapter one.

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><p><span><strong>Kaigan<strong>

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><p>䷼ Shikon Swan Song ䷼<p>

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><p>| June 11th, 2011 |<p>

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><p>It was dark.<p>

Blindingly dark.

And yet, shining like a beacon in the midst of the shadows was a young woman with her hands clenched tightly around a longbow.

With her eyes closed one could not look at – though there was no one else around – the color of the insightful orbs. However, the sudden mar of a frown was clear enough to be seen on her glowing features.

"_Nani? What does Shippou have to do with any of this?"_ The words were not spoken by mouth, instead heard like an echoing thought through the darkness. But even so the angry suspicion was clear enough.

The shadows pulsed in response.

_"Shippou…"_ There was a pause as the invisible speaker considered the following words to be said. _"Is the Ky__ū__bi no Y__ō__ko."_

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><p><strong>Konohagakure – Higurashi Clan District<strong>

4 Months _BKA_

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><p>Lifting her hand, Nodoka knocked on her daughter's bedroom door. The hope that filled her charcoal colored eyes waned slightly when she received no answer. It was only when she reached out to turn the door handle and poke her head around did her optimism fade completely.<p>

The room was empty.

_'My darling little girl, where are you? You were supposed to be home by now.'_ she thought sadly, closing the door and turning to hobble downstairs where she knew her husband would be occupying the kitchen.

The sense of dread in her heart grew.

This feeling she had had ever since her daughter left one week ago was confusing to her. There was absolutely no reason why she should be worried about her youngest child. _'She is a full-fledged kunoichi. But…'_ She still couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong with her daughter.

"Nodoka?" Hearing her husband's voice shook the woman from her thoughts and she was quick to turn her dark grey eyes to focus on him.

"Hai, Kagota?" she answered, forcing a smile onto her face.

She had yet to tell her husband how she was feeling, for fear of upsetting him even more. She knew he was having a harder time than her with accepting that their daughter felt obliged to keep returning to the past where thousands and thousands of demons roamed freely in comparison to the few hundred that occupied their era, all so Kagome could finish her quest to retrieve the Shikon no Tama.

Yet for some reason, this time her attempts to hide her worries failed, and Nodoka knew it when she saw his own anxiety. "Kagota?"

"You feel something, don't you?" he asked, heart clenching painfully when the smile slipped from his wife's face and she nodded. Though her kekkei genkai never fully awakened, she did gain the ability to empath the emotions of any event in time that would deeply affect her life. Such as now, she could feel this awful despair.

"Mew." Both husband and wife felt their gazes being drawn to the small nekomata who suddenly appeared at Nodoka's feet.

"Kirara?" Kagota murmured, surprised to see the small yōkai when he knew that she tended to hover around the Bone Eater's Well whenever Kagome traveled to the past.

One small, black-colored ear twitched in response to hearing her name being called, but instead Kirara locked gazes with Nodoka.

Rather than feeling as if he were being ignored, Kagota waited patiently for the nekomata to finish conveying her message to his life partner. Though he could not deny his curiosity at being kept out of the conversation when he knew that Kirara was fully capable of projecting her thoughts out loud for an entire room to hear. _'It must be important. Perhaps about Kagome?'_ He wondered silently, gaining a sense of impatience, especially when he noted the way his wife's eyes widened in both shock and fear.

"Ai?" Kagota worriedly called out, thoughtlessly dropping the dish towel he had been holding in favor of moving to his lover's side, gently grasping her hands as he concentrated on her distracted features.

"But, she does make it, right?" The desperation in her voice was clear, though the meaning of her words was not as she focused intently on the nekomata.

There was a pause as Kirara apparently responded to the outburst. And whatever the yōkai said was obviously good news for Nodoka visibly relaxed. Thankfully, Kagota was quick to help her into one of the chairs stationed around the small kitchenette table before moving back to the counter to set about making his wife a cup of relaxing tea.

The wave of fear in Kagota's own heart vanished at his wife's relief. And while he assumed that everything conveyed between the two females was about his daughter, he felt a pang of bitterness over not being included and could only blame himself. _'I hate being in the dark like this.'_

There weren't many clan rules among the Higurashis, but for the ones that did exist they were upheld and abided by to the extreme. And one such rule was that any who did not have the Kaigan, could not know of any of the events that occurred in a distant time. Clan members included. The reason for this rule against other Higurashis was that the clan felt if you did not awaken your Kaigan, then that just meant that you were not yet ready to grasp the implications of all such knowledge. Their views were not that you were unworthy, just not yet ascended spiritually to be open to receiving the clan gift and all that it entailed.

And while this was perfectly understandable – for being able to know, feel, see, and walk through time was quite a gift, Kagota agonized over the fact that his blood kept him from being able to look after his family.

He was not a Higurashi. He was a Fuudou. Another clan of spiritual shinobi, but one that did not carry the bloodline trait to unleash the rather special Kaigan.

He was only glad that his wife partially carried the gift, thus allowing for her to get bits and pieces when deemed relevant enough. This kept them from being totally clueless in regards to their beloved daughter. But he still hated that most of their clan knew just how and what Kagome was doing exactly, while they knew next to nothing.

Clenching his fists, Kagota allowed his lavender gaze to drift to the bulge of Nodoka's nine month pregnant belly. Knowing that his son safely rested within her womb relaxed him slightly, though he still carried the weight of worry for his daughter on his shoulders.

_'I only pray that you are blessed like your sister so that you may look after her where I cannot.'_

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><p><strong>Feudal Era Japan – Inside the Shikon no Tama<strong>

500 Years and 4 Months _BKA_

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><p><em>'Shippou… The Ky<em>_ū__bi? I-I mean they are similar, but… Shippou, __**my**__ Shippou?'_ The dread in her heart was so engulfing that it was causing her physical pain. "_Iie."_ Came the denial that typically followed a revelation.

"_Kagome, yes."_ Midoriko insisted patiently, watching the younger woman with cautious chocolate colored eyes. She knew what the young kunoichi was capable of when angered, for she had seen it all during her time while inside Kagome's body those first fifteen years. And while she was amazed to she just how time had progressed and how well her fellow spiritualists adapted, she knew better than to incur the wrath of her current guardian who just so happened to be the prodigy of her clan.

_'She could easily finish this battle, but where would that leave me? Would I move on, or would I still be trapped?'_ Unwilling to find out, Midoriko took a deep breath as she sought a way to placate the young woman. Already she could feel the rise of spiritual energy.

"_Kagome, focus! You still have a wish to make, lest you be trapped here to replace me."_ In her heart the ancient priestess still believed that a pure wish could free her, just as she knew the wrong one would force Kagome to take her place. And while she honestly had no lingering qualms about the latter, her attachment to her descendant had grown and drove her to help the younger girl seek the proper wish.

Her words seemed to snap Kagome back to reality and Midoriko watched as the kunoichi took a deep breath.

"Right… focus." Kagome reminded herself aloud, cobalt blue eyes snapping open to gaze into the never-ending darkness. Unfortunately, as does typically happen when left with nothing to distract fretful minds, just seeing the inky blackness caused her thoughts to work against her.

_'But… it makes sense. Without me there and only a hanyō and two humans to look after him, he would be lonely. And then when they finally died…'_ Her mind whispered, shredding her regained focus to bits.

"Shippou." Kagome murmured softly, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes as she thought of the differences between her kitsune and the wild animal that was the Kyūbi, and what events could transpire to cause such a drastic change in personality.

"Kagome!" Recognizing the voice immediately, distracted cobalt eyes flickered back and forth, searching for the red clad half-demon that she knew the voice belonged to.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome called out to the hanyō, blinking away her tears and focusing all her attentions on him as he quickly made his way towards her, a relieved look in his amber eyes. "You're here!"

With how distraught she had just been over Shippou, she did not expect the kiss that Inuyasha so willingly offered in his joy at finding her. But as his lips connected with her own, all of her fears seemed to just fade away much in the same way the surrounding darkness was just vanishing.

And though the show of affection lasted only a few short seconds, the emotions shared between them were undeniable.

Pulling apart slowly, with softened features and undying love in her eyes, Kagome sighed. Yet before she could say anything, though at the moment she honestly could not think of anything to say, she was interrupted by an ever persistent legendary miko.

Appearing at their side with an insistent look on her face, Midoriko carefully eyed the miko and her hanyō. _'The cycles we are caught in.'_ she thought to herself. But with a mental shake, she once more reminded Kagome of the importance of her wish.

Alas, even after gaining confidence with the appearance of her beloved silver-eared inu, Kagome was still unsure of what she should wish for. She felt as if she should know, as if the answer was right on the tip of her tongue. But then she knew that things were different. Midoriko's earlier insight into her life back home in the future and one of the most important people in her life had changed everything.

Dread returning, _'What do I wish for?'_

All her life she had known that she would be brought into the feudal era in a war for the Shikon no Tama, such was the advantage of her clan's kekkei genkai. However, what she had not mentioned even to her sensei was that after a point, her ability to see was blocked.

She had seen the demise of Naraku outside the Shikon, but not what came after. And she could only guess that this was because this point her in life was pivotal and whatever she wished for now, would forever change her. In other words, up until this point her future was written in stone and now… Now anything was possible.

And that thought scared her.

What if _she_ was the one that made Shippou become the creature that the people of her era feared as the Kyūbi no Yōko?

_That_ thought, made her sick to her stomach.

"_Kagome, the wish."_ Midoriko spoke up again, once more interrupting the girl from her thoughts. Unfortunately, she did not realize how tired the girl was of hearing about the cursed jewel.

"I wish the Shikon no Tama would disappear forever."

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><p><strong>Konohagakure – Higurashi Clan District<strong>

13 Years _BKA_

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><p>"We spiritualists are the natural opposite of those whom call themselves demons. This entire universe, is made in perfect balance. Where there is one there also exists the exact opposite. However, when one begins to fade, so does the other, as there no longer needs to exists the opposite of what is dying. Things would become unbalanced then, you see. And so with the steady disappearance of demons from this world, we spiritualists have to wonder, when we too will begin to fade away."<p>

In the background, the speaker of these words could hear light giggles, but chose to ignore them.

"Whatever is forcing the demons from our earth is unknown to us, but we do know that we as a race of people have yet to begin to fade as well. And while this is comforting to know, it still brings unanswered questions from even our brightest scholars. Why are they dying, but we still thriving?"

Intermittently the giggles were followed by purrs of contentment and mewls of pleasure.

"It is theorized that because of the recent existence of nine extremely powerful yōkai, they are what is keeping us spiritualists from dying off. And so for four hundred years, we Higurashis have made a name for ourselves as experts in dealing with yōkai when they are troubling to the rest of human kind. But now with the knowledge of so few yōkai left, while we are very capable of killing off these yōkai, we have instead made it our sole duty to only subdue these beasts, sometimes sealing them whenever we are called in to deal with the bijū. However, with the rise of the Akatsuki, we realize that we must come up with a more permanent solution to keeping the yōkai alive. But until then, we do all that we can to protect them."

Pausing for a moment, a woman with palatinate colored eyes directed her gaze away from the scroll stretched out before her and instead to her young student.

With the slight upward tip of a perfectly sculpted eyebrow, the woman could not stop the amused look that painted her features when she noticed the way her young female apprentice was curiously staring at the red-eyed nekomata who returned the curious gaze, twin tails swaying contentedly.

Clearing her throat, though neither child nor cat took their eyes off each other. "Kagome-chan, are you paying attention?" the woman asked, coloring her voice with false irritation.

Hearing only the strict words of her sensei, little Kagome stiffened and quickly turned her attentions onto her teacher. "H-hai, Hitomi-sensei!" she answered, though if she were completely honest, she really had no idea what was just said.

"Really?" Hitomi asked, suspicion now tinting her features.

Gulping loudly, Kagome prepared for the scolding when a voice that was not her own echoed through her head.

_**\**Relax, Kagome-chan. She was just explaining your family history again.**\**_

_'Eh?'_ came the unintelligent response from the five-year-old Higurashi clan prodigy. Letting her nekomata's words sink in, "Oh!" she gasped, laughing nervously when she finally understood. Turning to face her mentor with confidence in her eyes, "You were explaining about our history, Hitomi-sensei." Kagome furthered in her attempts to fool the older woman. _'Ma. Thanks, Kirara-chan!'_ she chirped mentally to her feline companion.

An exasperated sigh from the neko yōkai resonated through Kagome's head before the kitten sized creature fell silent, intending to curl up and take a nap to keep from distracting her mistress anymore from the lesson.

Across from the conspiring partners, Hitomi felt a twitch overtake right eye when her young student answered her question correctly. Despite knowing that the young girl was a prodigy and likely already knew in detail what she was speaking of from previous lessons, she still felt irritated over the fact that the nekomata had saved Kagome from a much needed lecture on paying attention.

With a huff of annoyance, Hitomi decided instead to have Kagome continue the reiteration of today's lesson. But it would seem the young girl was already ahead of her.

"The Higurashi clan members are able to harness not just chakra like all other shinobi, but also the spiritual energy of our ancestors, the priests and priestesses. Most shinobi rely upon only their first chakra to navigate through the ninja way of life. We Higurashis strive to activate and maintain a balance in all seven chakras. By doing so, rather than focusing on just the base chakra to perform skills and techniques, we can grow our reserves and increase our stamina to being limitless. With each chakra initiation is a fourteen times increase to our abilities as well as a deeper and stronger connection to our souls, the core of our spiritual energy."

"Individually the chakras also allow us to have an easier time performing element based jutsus, becoming experts with each activation. The first chakra is tied elementally to earth. The second chakra to water. Chakra number three makes fire techniques easier, while chakra number four helps simplify air techniques. The fifth chakra helps with sound based abilities. And chakras number six and seven are tied to light and thought respectfully. For most shinobi, training the first chakra to power other elemental techniques other than earth is what causes imbalance and keeps them from unlocking the following six chakras. They grow strong, but never reach full potential."

"For our clan, unlocking the sixth chakra is what allows our kekkei genkai to awaken. Unfortunately, this is also where most of our family stops, unable to unlock the seventh and final chakra. However, it is after the activation of our kekkei genkai which allows our Kaigan to channel the two different types of energy. Using just physical chakra can only see physical truth, like an old injury to the knee or poison spreading within the body, slowly killing it's victim. Harnessing spiritual energy through our Kaigan is when we are able to see the truth about the souls around us whether they are inside a body or not, as well as whether the soul exists during our time or not. Kaigan fueled by spiritual energy can see the truth of the past, future, and present. In other words, non-physical truth. It is with a spiritually powered Kaigan that we can know, feel, see, and walk through all times."

"Very good, Kagome-chan." It was clear that she was a genius, and not just because she was the first recorded Higurashi to ever activate the seventh chakra. Regretfully, common sense most times avoided the youth leaving her to behave in the mindset of her age with only bursts of genius showing through at random intervals, like now. Of course, that could be seen as a good thing for someone in their day and age while living the life of a shinobi. _'Yes, perhaps it is a good thing that she is able to go through life in such bliss.'_

"Ano, Hitomi-sensei, can we _please_ do something different today? I want to learn new Konton jutsus." Kagome begged cutely, clasping her hands together and looking at her sensei with wide, hopeful eyes.

She had never been one to deny her young student anything, finding it difficult to insist on lecture based lessons when Kagome always finished her sentences, a bored look in her eyes as she effortlessly recited theories and their clan history. So for Kagome to add her most pitiful look was overkill. With a heavy sigh, mentally fighting the urge to coo and cuddle the adorable little girl sitting before her, Hitomi nodded. "Last week we left off with kaze based Konton jutsus, so let's pick up there."

A high pitched squeal followed the announcement as Kagome jumped to her feet and did one of the strangest 'happy dances' that Hitomi had ever seen, only to suddenly pause and fall into a relaxed stance, a gleeful look in her cobalt colored eyes.

"Konton!" Quickly going through the motions of several hand signs with a speed that was undetectable to the human eye, "_Kanakirigoe-fū no Jutsu!_" Kagome cried out, pleased when the wind began to pick up. And though it was invisible to all who did not carry the Kaigan, the air became saturated with spiritual energy that swirled seamlessly with the gentle gusts.

A seemingly weak technique.

So not.

To anyone possessing demonic chakra this ability would not only purify physical forms and burn away their flesh, eventually incapacitating the individual, but it would also neutralize any jutsus formed with their yōki.

So, useless against humans?

Wrong again.

In fact because most of the opponents any Higurashi faced were other ninjas, it was more often than not safe to assume that there was taint somewhere in their hearts just because of the lifestyle they choose to lead. Taking lives and harming others was part of the job, and when one did not properly balance themselves to maintain a healthy state of mind, negative emotions began to take root. Guilt was a normal human reaction, but it is also a negative emotion which breeds negative energy, something to be cleansed when met with a spiritual shinobi's special abilities. Not to even mention the shinobi who closed off their hearts to complete their missions.

Now the actual damage suffered at the hand of any Konton techniques varied depending on the individual affected and how negatively charged their chakra centers were. Sometimes the destruction was minimal, especially in the case of inexperienced shinobi like recently promoted genin. Most times though, the enemies of a Higurashi shinobi suffered from temporarily being unable to perform chakra based jutsus and minor burns.

So, were the Higurashis capable of properly defending themselves with their special ninjutsu skills?

Hell yeah!

And if that wasn't enough, they still could use regular chakra based attacks, an advantage when forced to face other spiritual shinobi not of their noble clan.

Now for this specific technique the range was a small radius of twenty feet around the user, sometimes more depending on how long the spiritual shinobi practiced. In the case of the clan prodigy child, Kagome was easily able to maintain a radius of one hundred feet.

_'She is truly special. I can only wonder at what choice she'll make when the time comes for her to begin writing her own destiny.'_

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><p><strong>Feudal Era Japan – Village of Inuyasha's Forest<strong>

500 Years and 4 Months _BKA_

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><p>Like falling in love and breaking up, the emotions left behind are generally harder to get through than simply saying "it's over". This is true for most things in life. To put your energy into something for so long and then lose it so quickly… there a repercussions. Whether it be a few extra pounds gained after eating tubs full of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, or a raging hanyō high on the residual negative yōki from the recently vanished Shikon.<p>

_'I-Inuyasha…'_ Kagome whimpered, cobalt colored eyes sparkling with unshed tears of horror as she watched the red-eyes monster slice clean through his fifth victim, a young boy who had stood protectively in front of his little sister. The younger girl quickly followed her older sibling when Inuyasha turned his feral eyes upon her next.

_'Oh Kami! What have I done?'_ All of her training failed her, simply vanished from her mind leaving her mute as she watched the man she loved with all her heart, thoughtlessly slaughter the people who had come to look to him for protection and friendship.

_'Inuyasha, stop it. Stop it! STOP IT!'_ Her mind screamed for her to move, but her heart… Her heart kept her feet firmly rooted the ground, unwilling to make any move to harm the one dear to her.

"Kagome-chan!"

Startled, the young kunoichi's gaze was torn from the savagery happening before her to the form of the powerful taijiya who was not only prepared to do harm to the hanyō to stop him, but decked out in full gear with Hiraikotsu raised in preparation to strike.

"Kagome-chan, you have to help us! Only you can stop him!" Sango pleaded, grief stricken face begging her best friend to find her bearings so that she wouldn't have to slay someone else important to her.

Kagome understood perfectly what was being said, _'But… I can't!'_

She had, however, found her voice. Unfortunately, it came back after witnessing Inuyasha strike at Sango when the taijiya's attention was focused on her. "Inuyasha, SIT!" Kagome echoed Sango's cry of pain. Worried cobalt eyes watched as blood flowed freely from the long cut on the slayer's arm. At first glance it didn't look fatal, but the wound was done to her dominant arm, the one that took the brunt of handling her large boomerang weapon.

_'Where's Miroku-sama? Why isn't he protecting her?'_

Across the field a light blue barrier shimmered into existence. Apparently while Kagome had been preoccupied with watching Inuyasha slaughter the people of the village she had come to call her second home, Sango and Miroku had decided to split tasks of protecting the villagers and handling the crazed hanyō. It was a crude battle plan, clearly made up on the spot under the disadvantageous circumstances.

"Kagome-sama! Please help Sango!" The worry in the monk's voice was obvious, and it tore at her heartstrings when she just couldn't force her body to move even though she desperately wanted to as she watched Inuyasha recover from being temporarily subdued.

And though they were both frustrated with how unresponsive Kagome was being, taijiya and monk understood her inner dilemma. _'If it were… I couldn't do it either.'_

With that knowledge, Sango made her decision. _'I'll bring him back to his senses for you Kagome-chan. No matter what it takes.'_ Dropping her oversized weapon, as it would do her no good when she couldn't wield it properly, she reached for her wakizashi and slid the blade from its sheath, only wincing slightly when her injured arm cried out for attention.

Wild growls met her insensitive ears, but ignoring them and the fact that she personally knew and loved her enemy, Sango braced for battle with hardened chocolate eyes.

And then something shocking happened. Something that surprised everyone.

Shippou, previously thought to be safely protected by Miroku's barrier, was apparently so moved to stop the hanyō from doing anything else that would be regretted later by jumping into the fray. "Firebombs!" he shouted, tossing out the weak little firecrackers that could do no more than stun his opponent. But that was all he intended them to do, already planning to follow up with his fox magic. Yet before he could even begin to utter the words of the second phase of his attack, a possessed Inuyasha carelessly slapped the annoyances away, not in the least bit harmed by them.

And while Sango was able to easily dodge, Kagome who stood maybe five feet away from her did not react in time and was shocked by the sudden loud explosions, letting loose a shriek.

Thinking that he had unintentionally harmed the person most important in his life, Shippou took his eyes off of Inuyasha to focus on the smoke and dirt that surrounded and blocked his vision of the older female who was caught in the crossfire. That was a mistake, and the berserker inu-hanyō took this lapse of judgement to snatch the young kitsune off the ground by his tail and bring him close to his face, growling dangerously and preparing his left hand to strike.

"Shippou!" Both Sango and Miroku shouted out in fear for the youth.

Coughing and waving her hands to help make it easier to breath, "Fūton! Sutorīmu no Jutsu." opening her mouth a stream of air escaped to aid in clearing the air around Kagome. And what she saw beyond was enough to make her blood run cold. This time her body did not fail her when her mind realized that her crazed lover was poised to strike a death blow to the very kitsune that she was so recently worried about. It was seeing the sheer terror in the young boy's eyes that drove her to her senses. _'Not him!'_

"Inuyasha, NO!" Kagome screamed. "_**Shippou!**_" And in a display of power that not even she knew she had, the kunoichi vanished from sight. "Konton!" Hands quickly went through the motions of the proper hand seals, and in response her spiritual ki spiked in preparation for an attack, visible blue chakra swirling around her form erratically when she reappeared before the half-demon. "Hitei-ken no Jutsu!" And with a quick thrust of her fist, Kagome struck Inuyasha in the abdomen, miko ki flaring to life upon coming in contact with the uncontrolled yōki.

However, it would seem that Inuyasha wasn't the only one on the receiving end of the residual energy from Shikon no Tama when it disappeared. Apparently Kagome had taken into herself all of Midoriko's spiritual ki, for Inuyasha's response to her attack was not what she had predicted it to be.

The awful howling that came from his mouth as her purification spread over his entire body, scorching and blistering through even his clothes just to reach his flesh was enough to make Kagome sick to her stomach.

Falling to her knees, cobalt eyes filled with despair watched helplessly as Inuyasha dropped Shippou and scratched at his own skin, desperately trying to make the horrific pain stop. But there was nothing to be done, Kagome's pale colored spiritual energy was devouring him whole and his entire body was glowing with it.

Inuyasha was going to die.

And by her hand.

_'No!'_ Tears flowed freely and heart wrenching sobs followed without reservation.

The villagers watching from behind the safety of Miroku's barrier could only feel relief and be grateful to Kagome for saving them. But for those who knew the truth behind Inuyasha losing his mind, to his friends, they were frozen in shock. Unable to believe that _this_ was the end of the fierce half-demon.

_'History was not supposed to repeat itself this way.'_

And then suddenly it was all over.

The screaming, the howling just… stopped.

It was when things fell deathly silent that Inuyasha toppled over, strength and life gone in the blink of a eye leaving behind a disfigured and horrendously burned body that at the first sign of connecting with the ground, became a pile of ashes.

It was quiet again.

But only for a moment, because as the visible death of the hanyō sank in, the wretched anguish of the girl who had loved him more than anyone truly knew was shown to the world as _her_ world came crashing down.

"Inuyasha!"

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><p><strong>Konohagakure – Higurashi Clan District<strong>

4 Months _BKA_

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><p>"Kagota… Do you… feel that?" Nodoka asked her husband, tightly clenching his hand as she took a deep breath to work through her contractions.<p>

"Hai." the Fuudou answered, gazing out the window of the room where his wife was set to give birth to their son, an analytical look in his lavender eyes. _'Such power.'_ Though he could not feel the change in the flow of time like his wife had, he could sense the recent appearance of a spiritual shinobi. And the only one that he knew of with such strong spiritual energy was none other than his daughter. That thought warmed his heart.

Apparently so too did it bring a smile to Nodoka's face. "Our children will be able to meet this day, just as I hoped for." she spoke with excitement, guiding her free hand to rub the swell of her belly. "My darling, Sota. Worry not, your nee-chan will be here soon."

Little did the parents know that their beloved daughter was currently in a mental state not conducive to sharing in the joy of welcoming new life into the world.

Not when her hands were so recently stained with the blood of the one she loved.

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><p>䷀䷁ | <strong>Naikoru Hiatto<strong> | ䷁䷀

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><p><strong>Previous Note From Your Rude Awakening:<strong>

So then, here is the translation of the Higurashi clan Kekkei Genkai.

Kaigan – enlightenment / spiritual awakening / opening ones eyes to the truth

I know, awesome. And quite fascinating that I ended up choosing a name like Kai**gan** to go along with the Sharin**gan**, Byaku**gan** and Rinne**gan**. Three of the widely known Dōjutsu Kekkei Genkai.

**Note From Hiatto:**

I have created some pictures of what the Higurashi clan symbol and Kekkei Genkai look like. You can find the references on my profile. Each picture will be labeled accordingly. Along with the clan symbol is a compilation of photos that show a timeline of Kagome's kunoichi outfits.

You'll find that I'm quite lazy when it comes to describing physical appearances, so if it can't be done in a few sentences then I'll find a photo that I like and refer you to it.

Now onto the story specifics. First up, timeline.

You'll notice the use of 'BKA'. This is because I'm centering these first few chapters around the Kyūbi attack. So 'BKA' is 'Before Kyūbi Attack' and 'AKA' (pfft) is 'After Kyūbi Attack'.

What's next? Ages!

In keeping with the canon timeline of Inu-Yasha, Kagome begins her time hopping experiences at age fifteen and ends them at eighteen. Sota, on the other hand, is a lot younger than his sister in this story.

Why?

Because it felt strange to have him not only older than Itachi, but everyone else that we follow in the canon universe of Naruto. I mean, can **you** picture him already twelve years old when Naruto and the others are being born? o.O

And that is why he is born right along with them.

Moving on, I shall explain the special spiritual jutsus.

Konton no Jutsu (Spirit Release Technique) is the classification of ninjutsu used solely by spiritual shinobi. For every chapter that a character uses one of the techniques I will list a translation, because in the story I will always write them in Japanese form.

Konton: Kanakirigoe-fū no Jutsu – Spirit Release: Shrieking Wind Technique; This ability was named during an era when it was used against more yōkai than humans. Yōkai who would shriek in pain.

Konton: Hitei-ken no Jutsu – Spirit Release: Negation Fist Technique; Eh… yeah. You read what happened. But to go into details I shall tell you that the ability against demons (when not being used by a supercharged spiritual shinobi) normally is supposed to leave the area struck, burned. This technique is used in conjunction with taijutsu skills similar to the Hyūga clan's Gentle Fist style. But instead of causing internal damage, when the chakra points are struck with spiritual ki an overload of energy happens and causes a block which keeps the affected opponent from performing chakra based techniques if they have any negative energy.

As you'll notice, the Konton affect a spiritual shinobi's opponents in a very specific way. And while it may not seem like a lot, remember that they come in contact with tainted people nearly everyday and every mission. Not to mention the jinchūriki.

Now for the remaining translations! (Future chapters will combine the listing of jutsus with the regular usage of Japanese words.)

**Japanese-to-English:**

Fūton: Sutorīmu no Jutsu – An already canon revealed Wind Release technique called Wind Release Stream, but since there wasn't a Japanese form of the ability on the site where I get all my information like all the other jutsus, I simply translated "stream" and added Fūton no Jutsu to it.

Ai – "愛" love

Fuudou – Eh, I think I'll keep that to myself for now as a surprise for later.

Kagota – "加護" (kago) "divine protection" combined with "太" (ta) "thick, big"

I actually combined the words myself. It's a real name (and place), but I don't know if the meaning stays the same. Though I do appreciate the language, I'm not an expert in Japanese nor do I fluently speak it… read it… or write it. *insert sad panda face*

Please cheer me up by reviewing! I would love to see your thoughtful words and though I won't hold the next chapter hostage until I have a certain amount, I would feel appreciated.

Thank you!


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